Jan
The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
Review By: Lacey Kaye
Book: The Raven Prince
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt
Author’s Website: www.elizabethhoyt.com
Publisher: Warner
Release Date: November 2006
It all started - for me, anyway - with a friend’s half-hearted recommendation. “Read this and tell me what you think.” Then, a few weeks later, “Did you read
The Raven Prince yet? I’d really like to get your opinion on it.” Not too many days passed before one of my other critique partners sent out an email: Have any of you read
The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt? I’d really like to talk to you!
I politely raised my hand. “I have it, but I haven’t read it yet.” “WHAT?!” “I’ll get around to it. I’m busy.” Then Elizabeth started showing up on my favorite group blogs. She seemed nice and there was something about a macaroni, but I was mildly disinterested. Finally, God intervened. The power went out in my city. The world was thrust into darkness, and I decided I might as well read The Raven Prince and get it over with.
Lord, I’m a moron.
The book starts out innocently enough. The heroine, Anna Wren, meets the hero on a country road. Right away one thing starts to tickle your brain. It will take another 150 pages or so to figure it out, but that’s because Elizabeth’s writing is so seamless you’re sucked into the story, its characters and settings, and subtle plot before you can start evaluating what it is that makes her voice so entertaining.
Nothing is overdone - that’s the answer. As Anna continues her way home, thoughtful details describing the area, the modest home she shares with her mother-in-law, and a smidgen of backstory hinting she might have had an unhappy marriage all feel completely natural. In these first 100 pages Elizabeth paints a picture that can only be described as cinematic. Her use of description flares before it settles into a quiet flame, becoming a backdrop for a fast-paced plot that kept me glued to my seat until the last page.
The Raven Prince is a lesson in “show don’t tell.” You’ll never see the words, “Edward seemed to have a terrible temper,” or “Anna Wren was everything that was good and kind.” Elizabeth’s characters do things. They rant, they rave, they laugh, they smile, but they very rarely dissect the plot for you. I’m going to be rereading this to try and figure out how Ms. Hoyt managed this, because it is definitely one of her strong points. I felt actively engaged as the characters moved from situation to solution without ever feeling like there was a burden on me to think too hard. Which is always a good thing.
And, of course, it’s hot. Reading a debut author’s book always helps an aspiring writer try to figure out what’s being bought [2 years ago] but in this case, what’s considered mainstream right now might surprise you. One thing I found interesting is that the hotness sneaks up on you. Tension between the hero and heroine keeps you turning pages; you feel a part of their developing interest and you intend to see it to completion. Well, Elizabeth does not disappoint! As with everything else, she uses startling detail to create a delicate yet immensely satisfying sense of intimacy between the h/h. Again, the word cinematic comes to mind. Edward is particularly sexy (and sexual) for a hero, and I’ve no doubt you’ll be taking a closer look at what has often been a ho-hum encounter in other novels. I know I did!
Add to all of this a cast of subcharacters that will make you laugh and a plot that will make you smile and you’ll be writing enthusiastic emails to Ms. Hoyt, too. And never fear: I’ll be purchasing my own copy of
The Raven Prince, though in this case, there’s certainly nothing wrong with passing yours to a friend.
The Raven Prince is Elizabeth’s debut book, and starting today I would give up chocolate for an entire year to get an ARC of The Leopard Prince (Fall 2007). Yet I would never have picked it up if someone hadn’t put it in my hand and then nagged me until I opened it, because who the heck is Elizabeth Hoyt, anyway?
Today my critique partners and I know three people who’ve bought TRP based on our fangirl
ravings. We know this because we’ve received our own grateful emails from them.
So don’t be shy! Whatever you can to get Ms. Hoyt’s name out there, do it! When
she’s as big as any of the Romance Greats, you can say you helped her to the
top. She’s absolutely on her way 
